Kevin Holland finally got to meet Nick Diaz, in the most Nick Diaz way possible.
The welterweight “Trail Blazer” was on the scene at Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in 2018, when he triggered Diaz with a shirt representing then-sponsor Specimen. That led to an exchange of words and the infamous Stockton slap … which did not make contact.
“It was funny. I think he was pretty sauced at the time though, so, you know, it’s alright,” Holland told The MMA Hour (transcribed by Harrison Carter). “At the time, I used to be sponsored by this company named Specimen, so I had this shirt on from Specimen, and he was like, ‘Hey, that’s my shirt.’ But I had walked past him and I was like, ‘Yo, what’s up, OG?’ I guess he probably thought somebody was coming up to him and fanboying over him, but I was talking to my coach, I call my coach ‘OG.’”
“I guess he felt some type of way. And he said something, so I said something back,” Holland continued. “He said like, that was his shirt, he was like, ‘You got on my fucking shirt,’ and I was like, ‘Bro, this ain’t your fucking shirt, what’re you talking about?’ I was like, ‘Bro, you must be fucked up.’ He was looking at me all crazy. Then, next thing I know, he like, swung at me. Fuck no (did he connect). I’m the type of person you take down, not the type of person you hit in the face.”
Diaz, 38, returned from a six-year hiatus to rematch Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 back in September, falling to his “Ruthless” rival by way of third-round technical knockout. And judging by these comments, it’s unlikely we’ll see Diaz return anytime soon, if ever.
As for Holland, he makes his welterweight return against Alex Oliveira in March.